Or what have u read, that helps enhance your editing skills? I want to learn as much as I can, and although I know most experience comes through trial and error, I want to minimize the latter as much as possible. I'm a beginner when it comes to final cut and photoshop, and remember very little about after effects since I haven't used it in so long, so I want to know what books AND training videos have helped you along the way.

Right now I do mostly weddings and assemble rough cuts for commercials at my church, but I want to be able to make them better and complete a commercial opposed to waiting on someone else to add in graphics, for example, and I want to be prepared to branch out into other arenas (commercials outside of church, short films, etc).

If you've used After Effects before, and want to learn to do motion graphics.... GET BACK IN THERE! :)

videocopilot.net has some great tutorials... AE is one of the best tools for pro motion graphics, it's not the quickest to build with but it's definitely one of the most powerful. Read the manual and look at tutorials is the best advice I can give.

Oh Yeah, the Lynda.com site is something of an Aladdin's cave if you've got time on your hands to get your moneys worth. The Ripple training stuff is also very good. Andrew Balis's colour correction DVD for Ripple is pricey but worth every penny. The best training DVD i've seen to date.

Check out The Technique of Film Editing by Karl Reisz. It's an older book, from the 60's I believe, but it is often called the bible of film editing. Of course it won't teach you newer things relating to the digital age, but it covers the basic techniques that have remained for years.

Another vote for lynda.com, a great collection of tutorials. I especially like the ability to learn a little bit about software BEFORE I purchase it, to better see whether it does what I need and can support my workflow.

As far as books go, to add to the list:
Apple Pro Training Series: Encyclopedia of Visual Effects

And let's not forget about audio:
Producing Great Sound for Digital Video and
Audio Postproduction for Digital Video
(both by Jay Rose)

Thanks for the replies everyone. I want to have the technical aspects down but I know it's not always about knowing what button to push. I want to be able to tell a great story also. All of your suggestions have been great. I actually have Final Cut Pro 6 by Diana Weynand for an editing class. It's been great.

The operator's guide! Not to be a smart arse, but I've found the FCP instruction manual pretty helpful, particularly if you sit with it while working and try the techniques in real-time.

I also found the David Pogue book on Imovie helpful. Yes, this is the FCP forum, but I find this book worthwhile when my brain is overloaded: the simple style helps me understand the more complicated techniques in the FCP manual.

I've also taken to watching a lot of documentaries and public television. It helps me understand why/how pros edit the way they do. The mechanics aren't that difficult, it's knowing when to apply them.

Cheers,

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